Warp Lines 102: Comfort Over Chaos

A few folks last week were asking for another video showing more of my stern while using these lines. This one’s got the full view — two warp lines dragging off the stern like a pair of lazy ramen noodles keeping Hold Fast civilized in the swell. I don’t normally run two, was testing different options in this video.

First off, what’s a warp line? A warp line is a length of heavy rope, a weighted line, or really anything hanging off the stern to help control speed and/or yaw.

In this context, yaw refers to the side-to-side movement or rotation of a boat’s bow (front) from its intended course, caused by waves, wind, or uneven drag. Put simply: when a boat yaws, it swings left and right around its centerline instead of maintaining a straight heading.

A warp is generally secured on the windward side or looped from one side to the other — to create drag and resist yaw. Again, keeps the boat pointed straight so the bow and stern stay aligned instead of spinning sideways down a wave and broaching — meaning rolling or knocking over sideways.

One of the most important factors is that the line must be long enough—depending on its thickness—to create drag, obviously. The way I was initially taught was that it needs to sit back at least two to three wave sets so it doesn’t skip across the surface.

Unlike a drogue or sea anchor, its main job isn’t so much to slow the boat (although that is a side effect) but to stabilize it. Another benefit is the comfort it adds in short period seas where the stern would normally swing all over the place (like the video above)— without losing much speed. For me, on long passages, a bit of speed loss is a small price to pay for comfort! *keep in mind the video above those are tests, the line I use now is exponentially better at its purpose.

Now, a little backstory. The line off the starboard side? That’s my Version 1: Knot Monster — 175 feet of 1/2 inch spare halyard line with a knot tied every 3 feet along the way and a large monkey fist at the end of it (large knot). Honestly, it worked great. Ok drag, easy to deploy, but a little short, it skipped across the surface and try hauling that back in under load and you’ll age a decade. You can’t winch it in because the knots, and your arms start writing resignation letters halfway through.

Off the port there was Version 2: The Mophead of Doom. About 250 feet of 1/2 inch spare halyard line with a giant mop head of 4 foot pieces of line on the end. Brilliant drag, terrible longevity. Still a little to short and without a swivel at the end, that “mop” spins like a drunken ballerina, twisting the whole thing into the world’s largest and angriest knot by the time you pull it back aboard. Had to toss the whole thing.

Which brings us to Version 3: The Final Form. A glorious 400-foot, one-inch three-strand with a one-inch swivel and a mop head of cut 4 foot lines weighted with three chunks of 5/16-inch chain, each about three feet long. Always tied off the weather side of the boat. She drags beautifully, stays straight, and doesn’t tie herself into a Boy Scout merit badge every 20 minutes. Plus I can winch it back in!

I keep my Version 3 in an old army bag on the stern at all times for crossings or in squally areas. The bitter end is secured outside the bimini frame to the stern cleat, the line is neatly fed into the bag, and the mop head sits on top. The bag is zipped up and secured. This way, It can be deployed in seconds.

I learned the hard way in the Mozambique Channel, riding the Agulhas Current south, how fast things can turn—5 to 50 knots in about 10 seconds, out of nowhere. No forecast, nothing on radar. A big storm rolled through, everything went eerily calm for a few minutes, and then—BOOM! The first gust nearly broached me, spreaders just about kissed the drink. I tossed the line, and it for sure saved me. Thankfully, I was still just under triple-reefed main from the last blow.

It’s worth noting that some folks use much thicker line, two- to three-inch industrial-grade mooring line streamed behind the boat. Yes, those are very effective and you can use shorter lengths but on a monohull, storage space is at a premium. Even a fifty to a hundred feet of three-inch line would take up an entire locker! Plus not winch-able. That’s why I prefer a thinner line with weight at the end — it accomplishes the same goal while saving a tremendous amount of space, can be paced away neatly AND it can easily be retracted on a winch.

Another method is to tie the line off to the port and starboard with a loop behind the boat. I’ve tried that setup several times, experimenting with different lengths and line thicknesses, but my 400-foot Version 3 still worked best for me. I’ve tested it in winds from 10 knots up to 50 and in seas ranging from two meters all the way up to eight or nine — that’s roughly 25 feet, or up to the spreaders on my rig. For me, Version 3 remains the sweet spot—again, for me and my boat.

As with all things in sailing, nothing is binary — it’s all about what feels right for you and what you’re comfortable with on your boat.

In this clip, I’m leaving Réunion Island for Nosy Be, Madagascar singlehanded. The original plan had been to head southwest straight to Richards Bay — but the wind was a stubborn 30 knots, had me sailing at 38° AWA with AWS into the high 30's, not making an inch of south for half a day. I tried a tack and was pointing the wrong way completely. So instead, I pulled an audible and took the scenic route: northwest to Madagascar, down the Mozambique Channel. Longer? Sure. But worth every mile — Madagascar was pure magic. The Mozambique Channel is a whole other story — currents, eddies, squalls, lightning and southerlies that will make quick work of even the most seasoned sailor.

Its worth noting Madagascar requires approval prior to arrival. It takes weeks to a month for approval. I had submitted the request preemptively when I arrived in Réunion months earlier, so I had it as a backup for this very reason.

Now, the sea state looks fairly mellow, right? It is very difficult to tell from video. Anyway, at 25 to 30 knots of wind with six to nine foot seas all day with short eight-ish second periods, the boat’s not going to broach in that sea state obviously, but the warp lines serve another purpose — as I said, making everything smoother by slowing the yaw with very little speed loss, Stopping the boat from skating sideways down every wave like a drunk penguin on a slip’n’slide. Instead, they keep the stern aligned with the swell — much more comfortable, much less chaos. A bit of speed loss is a small price to pay for comfort when spending days, or weeks at sea.

And for the data nerds like myself: The box in the bottom of the screen is my NMEA (via Yacht Devices NMEA 2000 Wi-Fi) readout for the hour that video was taken. This was September of '24

• Blue box: SOG - Speed Over Ground

• Teal box: TWS - True Wind Speed

• Yellow box: AWA - Apparent Wind Angle

• Red box: AWS - Apparent Wind Speed

*Unfortunately the STW paddle wheel was on the fritz then, so it gets a bit random at times.

Having all your NMEA info to go back to and post-game is amazing! I have all four years of circumnavigating logged, with time, date, lat/long, SOG, STW, AWA, AWS, TWS, TWA, Heading... It is amazing!

If you don’t already have one, the Yacht Devices NMEA 2000 Wi-Fi is great — it also allows me to see AIS targets on Navionics on my iPhone. Perfect for those moments when you just want a quick glance without standing behind the helm staring at the chartplotter. There are other options that will log all your data as well (normally your chartplotter will do this; just make sure the card inside is large enough, or it’ll start overwriting itself once it fills up).

Days sober: 2,143

Hope this answered the questions! Fair winds, my friends!